History of the Cook Islands
The Cook Islands are named after Captain James Cook, who visited the islands in 1773 and 1777, although Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendaña was the first European to reach the islands in 1595. The Cook Islands became aligned to the United Kingdom in 1890, largely because of the fear of British residents that France might occupy the islands as it already had Tahiti.
Pa te Pou Ariki, Chief of the Takitumu tribe, Rarotonga (c. 1837)
Rarotonga Island Council (1923–1925)
Ngamaru Rongotini Ariki, Mrs Seddon, Makea Takau Ariki, Mr Seddon (1900)
Queen Makea's Palace & Makea's Summer Cottage (1908)
Makea Takau Ariki was a sovereign of the Cook Islands. She was the ariki (queen) of the dynasty Makea Nui, one of the three chiefdoms of the tribe Te Au O Tonga on the island of Rarotonga.
Makea Takau Ariki, Auckland visit (1885)
Prince Consort Ngamaru Rongotini (1885).
An 1893 stamp of the Cook Islands showing Queen Makea.
Para O Tane Palace and Summer cottage (1908).